Adventures in genealogy

Y is for Y-DNA

Winding down the Family History Through the Alphabet series, Y is for… Y-DNA! Only men are born with the Y chromosome, so Y-DNA traces the patrilineal line. I personally have not had any of my male relatives tested for Y-DNA, but I wondered if iI could trace the Y-DNA from each of my great-grandparents’ lines. Is that even possible? Here’s look at my great-grandparents (numbered with their ahnentafel numbers) to see if it could be done:

8. Piątkowski – yes – My father, brother, and nephews could all have a Y-DNA test to determine the origin of our patrilinal line.

9. Kizoweter – maybe – My great-grandmother had a brother, Jozef Kizoweter. He was living in Warsaw at the time of her immigration, and I’ve found records for his mariage and the birth of some children. Did the male line survive in Poland?

10. Bergmeister – yes – My father has two male first cousins, I have at least two male second cousins, and there is another male generation that all bear the Bergmeister surname and are descendants of my great-grandfather.

11. Echerer – maybe – My great-grandmother had a brother, Karl Echerer, who was married in Munich in 1908. It is unknown if he had any sons or if the male line has survived to today.

12. Pater – maybe – Of the three Pater sons that immigrated to this country, only my great-grandfather had sons. Of the five sons, only two had sons. I have not yet been able to find those two male cousins of my mother, Larry Pater and Louis Miller (although Pater is the “correct” surname). There were also numerous Pater relatives left in Poland, but it is not known if any male descendants are left after the wars.

13. Miller – maybe – My great-grandmother had a brother who had one childless son. However, I think she had other brothers and I’ve recently found information about one, Alfred Miller. I am trying to determine if his male line still exists today.

14. Zawodny – yes – I’m in touch with at least one male cousin of my mother’s and he has a son. This Y-DNA line could be traced.

15. Ślesiński – doubtful – My great-grandmother apparently had one brother, Feliks, but I have been unable to determine if he had any sons. More research is needed.

If I was able to convince my male relatives to submit to Y-DNA testing, I would get a good idea of my own genetic makeup. Have you had any Y-DNA testing done on yourself or male relatives?

Like this:

Related

5 Responses

I’ve never had any kind of DNA testing, Donna, but after reading your post, I’m going to look at my great-grandparents, and see how far the Y-DNA can be traced. (On my father’s side, there’s at least my brother, my uncle and his son and his own 3 sons.)

Denise,
Uh…no. One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever see. But really because numbers don’t end like the alphabet does! LOL. But, I have some thoughts on using the alphabet again in completely different ways (yet still related to genealogy). Stay tuned next week for that post. But first…Z on Sunday!
Donna